I IAN IX- IF I -s 



HAN DHL 



541 



|.r.>ni|ii i)|)<>nitii>n ; by an ingenious arrange- 

 ment ..f ili.- centre-bar, shown in the tig., it <i; i 

 be instantaneously fastened by one hand on the 

 i of an offender. The twister is now generally 

 furl. ill. It-it in Great Britain, instances having arisen 

 in which its application has been attended with 

 serious injury to the prisoner ; but it is still 

 frequently used in some parts of America and in 

 other countries where open resistance to the law 

 is of more frequent occurrence. It is composed 

 of a chain attached to two handles. The chain is 

 put round the wrist, the handles brought together 

 and twisted till the chain grips tight enough. In 

 - where prisoners have to be removed who are 

 charged with .-rimes of a desperate kind, the culprit 

 is occasionally >ecure.l by leg-irons (e in fig. ) in 

 addition to the han.lcutl's, and these are also used 

 in convict establishments upon prisoners who have 

 shown themselves to be dangerous. The leg-iron 

 is fastened above the ankle and locked by a key. 



Handel, ( JEOROE FREDERICK, born at Halle, in 

 vi \.niy. at No. 4 of the Grosser Schlamm, Feb- 

 ruary 23, 1685. The German name was Georg 

 Fried rich Handel (pronounced Hendel); but he 

 himself signed G. F. Handel to the end of his 

 life. His father (then sixty-three) was a sur- 

 geon ; his mother the second wife. His passion 

 and ability for music began from the first, but 

 against his father's will. At seven or eight the 

 boy was placed under Zachau, organist at Halle, 

 and in about a year was writing a regular composi- 

 tion every week, besides playing organ, clavier, 

 violin, and hautboy. In or about 1696 he was sent 

 to the court of Berlin, where he met Ariosti and 

 Buononcini the composers. In 1697 his father died, 

 but his education was carefully continued, and on 

 February 10, 1702, he entered the university of 

 Halle, and in the same year became organist of the 

 church at the Moritzburg there. Before this time 

 he was well known as a musician. In 1703 he went 

 to Hamburg, then one of the most musical towns in 

 Germany. Here he played second violin in the 

 opera orchestra, accompanied on the theatre harpsi- 

 chord, made all the music and enjoyed all the life 

 possible. Among musical houses which he fre- 

 quented was that of Sir Cyril Wich, English repre- 

 sentative. In Holy week', 1704, he produced his 

 first Passion. In 'December he had a duel with 

 his friend Mattheson, nearly fatal, though the differ- 

 ence was soon adjusted; and in January 1705, 

 Ahmrm. his first opera, was brought out, and was 

 followed bv Nero, Florindo, and Daphne all in 

 German. He also gave innumerable lessons, and 

 wrote much harpsichord music. In the summer of 

 1706 he left Hamburg, and in January 1707 we find 

 him at Florence, in April at Rome, and in July 

 back at Florence, producing Kodrigo. The first 

 three months of 1708 he spent at Venice, and pro- 

 duced Aorippina ; thence he went to Rome for 

 another three months, and thence to Naples, possibly 

 till Christ niiis 1709 the whole journey one con- 

 tinued triumph*] pro.^re.-s, l M >th in playing and 

 composition. He then returned to Florence, and 

 fafoned his visit at Venice in the middle of 1710. 



He returned by Halle to Hanover, and was made 

 Kapellmeister, with an income of 1500 crowns, and 

 leave to travel. Thence he went by Diisseldorf to 

 London, where he arrived in November 1710. His 

 first opera, liiiinhln, was produced at the Queen's 

 Theatre, Haymarket. February 'Jl. 1711, with pro 

 digious success. After this he returned to Hanover, 

 and remained in Germany till the autumn of 1712, 

 when he went back to London. That winter he pro- 

 duced // Pn.-ifur r'n/0 and Teseo. The spring of 1713 

 saw his first composition to English words, the first 

 Btrtkday Ode, and the Utrecht Te Deum. During 

 this time h<> lived chiefly with Lord Burlington at 

 his house in Piccadilly. On August 1, 1714, 



Anne died, and on September 18 George I. 

 arrived. The operas of this year were Silla and 

 Aimuliiji. The king was naturally displeased at 

 Handel's long absence from Hanover, ami perhaps 

 at his writing a Te Deum for Utrecht ; hut Handel 

 made his peace by the Water Music, written for a 

 royal water party, August 22, 1715. He received a 

 pension of 200, to which were afterwards added 

 two other amounts of 'JOO each, giving him a 

 permanent income of (500, representing consid- 

 erably more than the same sum at present. In 

 July 1716 he accompanied the king to Hanover, 

 and returned with him in the following January. 

 While there he wrote his second German Passion. 

 In 1718-19 no operas were performed, and Handel 

 was engaged by the Duke of Chandos to direct the 

 music at his palace at Cannons, near Kdgware. 

 Here he wrote the twelve Chomdot Anthems and 

 two Te Deums (in B flat and A), Esther, At-is and 

 Galatea, and the first set of Lessons, containing the 

 ' Harmonious Blacksmith.' 



In 1720 the Royal Academy was founded in the 

 Haymarket, by subscription of 50,000, ' to secure 

 a constant supply of operas by Handel, to be per- 

 formed under his direction. ' This was the beginning 

 of the great revolution which for a hundred years ana 

 more kept English music, once so strong in its 

 native school, under the dominion of foreigners. 

 As director, Handel had been to Dresden early in 

 1719, and had engaged Senesino and others. Bach 

 travelled thither to see him, but missed him by one 

 day. The Royal Academy Theatre opened April 

 2, 1720, and Handel's Radamisto was produced. 

 Thirteen other operas are spread over the next 

 eight years Muzio Scevola (Act 3 only composed 

 by him ), Floridante, Ottone, Flavto, Giulio Cesare, 

 Tamerlano, Rodelinda, Scipione, Alessandro, Ad- 

 meto, Riccardo, Siroe, Tolomeo. During this time he 

 was naturalised, February 13, 1726. In June 1727 

 George II. succeeded to the throne, and as court 

 composer Handel composed Zadok the Priest, and 

 three other anthems, for the coronation. On June 



I, 1728, the theatre closed, and, the money being 

 all spent, the Royal Academy of Music was at an 

 end. Handel arid Heidegger then took the house 

 on their own account, and shortly after Handel set 

 out to find singers in Italy. On June 29 he was at 

 Halle with his mother, then suffering from paraly- 

 sis, under which she lingered till December 27, 1730. 

 The new venture opened December 2, 1729, with 

 Lotario, followed by Partenope. The next season 

 began November 3, 1730, and contained the new 

 opera Poro ; Ezio and Sosarme followed. This 

 spring saw several revivals of Esther, also two of 

 Acts and Galatea. The season of 1732-33 brought 

 forward Orlando. The speculation, however, was 

 not successful, the quarrels with the singers and 

 rival composers were continual, and the result was 

 the opening of the 'Opera of the Nobility,' to which 

 the whole company had revolted, in Lincoln's Inn 

 Fields, December 29, 1733. The struggle was 

 tremendous. On one side was Handel with his 

 partner ; on the other a company of rich and 

 powerful noblemen, with all the composers that 

 could l>e got together Buononcini, Porpora, Hasse, 

 and all the great singers. Handel's season began 

 October 30, 1733, and he brought out Arianim. 

 His contract for the King's Theatre expired July 

 (5, 1 734 ; then began a series of disasters and 

 worries. The Nobility took the King's Theatre, 

 and Handel was driven first to Lincoln's Inn, and 

 then to Coven t Garden, where, in partnership with 

 Rich, he produced six new operas, Ariwiantf, 

 Alcina, Atalanta, Giustino, Arminio, Berenice, 

 besides reviving many of his old ones. On June 



II, 1737, the Nobility retired, with a loss of 

 12,000, while Handel's losses had been so severe, 

 including 10,000 of funded savings, that he waa 



